Echoes of the Heart
by Curious-silence
Summary: Athena faints whilst investigating a hospital, leaving her fearful and separated from her partner. Pairing: Justicykes.
1. Safe

This is my first attempt at writing fic for this pairing, and only the second fanfic I've ever published. Any reviews would be greatly appreciated! I had to remove this and reupload it, thanks to an issue with accidentally repeating the same piece of information twice.

"Apollo!" Athena's rattled voice rung out as she ran through the almost empty white corridors, flinging door after door open in the vain hope of finding her coworker. She realised she was being noisy and disrespectful in the huge public building, but that didn't take priority right now. "Apollo! Please! Where are you?" The fearful pounding of her heart reflected the pounding of her boots on the carpeted ground. Tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes now fell down her face, dampening her shirt as she ran. But her heart grew louder and louder and the noise of her feet softer and softer on the floor beneath her. It wasn't exhaustion slowing her down. Athena could run for miles without tiredness. It was fear, cold creeping fear. As she sprinted down the long corridors she stared at her feet, which moved so fast that they became blurred. Athena cursed her decision to wear her new pair of white boots. She could feel blisters rising with every stride she took. The pain in her feet was excruciating but Athena couldn't stop running, she had to find Apollo before a panic attack set in. If she panicked, she'd get flashbacks, and if she got flashbacks, it was game over. She needed keep her eyes focused on the road ahead and slow her heart down, whilst still searching for her partner. As she looked up, she was greeted with the revelation that a wall, complete with bulletin board stood centimetres from her face. Before she could process the information and order her swift feet to stop, she had hit the hard wall, shrieking in shock. She shouldn't have fallen over, but it was too much for the slim girl as her weakened legs wobbled dangerously before totally collapsing. Athena felt herself plummeting to the ground, falling at the same rate as the countless sheets of paper that had ripped from the board at her impact. She didn't have the energy to put her hands out to cushion the fall, but she wrapped her hand around widget as a reflex to shield the device in case of landing on it. As the world around her faded to black she tried to listen to the beating of her heart over the tinnitus steadily ringing in her ears.

She awoke to two sets of heartbeats. Hers: slow but speeding back up as she drifted into conciousness, and another: strong, deep and comforting. It beat faster than hers, yet still beat in sync, like a rhythm formed by multiple sets of drum beats. She could lay there forever, listening to the familiar deep heart as it beat, walking as steadily as she had run shakily before, feeling the strong arms wrapped under her legs and under her arms, supporting her head close to their owner's chest, close to _his _heart. She heard awkwardness from tones given out by the gently pounding heart, but she could also feel determination and... a desire to protect. _He _smelt good too, a scent she couldn't put a name to, but a warm, sweet scent that was undoubtedly _Apollo's_. At the thought of his name, Athena's features twitched into a smile and she instinctively put her left hand right next to her ear, on his chest, to feel the beating of his heart even clearer than before. The walk slowed down until he had stopped moving altogether.

"You're awake!" Apollo's relieved voice boomed above her. As his voice carried through his chest and directly into her ear, Athena jumped out of her skin and out of his arms, screeching ungracefully as she felt herself falling again. But Apollo's arms reached out further and scooped her up before she could fall any further.

"Apollo..." She whispered, hugging him tightly and pressing her ear to just above his heart again. The rhythm was less steady than usual, probably from surprise at her waking- and falling. Or perhaps the embarrassment at her discovering his holding her so close. And hers? It was beating even more quickly than when she was running earlier.

"Sorry for scaring you, Athena." He whispered, stroking her long hair gently to soothe her panicky, wild emotions. Now wasn't really the time to be thinking it, but the way Apollo delivered her name was really special to Athena. It was always comforting to the girl, just closing her eyes and hearing the way Apollo let her name out, the way it always showcased his emotions so clearly. Every syllable seemed to drop off his tongue and fill the air around her with a warm atmosphere, even when he was sad, or had just woken up, the way he pronounced it was always different to the way he pronounced other people's names, like Trucy's name, or even Clay's name. If she could preserve any noise in the world, Apollo's pronunciation of her name would top her list every time. "We don't have to go back in there if you think you'll be triggered by annything. " His words soothed her.

She shook her head, both to indicate that she didn't mind the shock upon waking and to try to clear the daydreams about his voice from her head. Apollo went on, "I was really surprised when you bolted. I had no idea this kind of place scared you."

Athena cleared her throat lightly before smiling gently up at Apollo, "I'm okay now, just hospitals give me the creeps. There's so much to be feared here, death, illness, sharp objects..." Her voice trailed off as she realised what a nuisance she must be to Apollo. "...Sorry. Sorry I can't even investigate on my own in places like this." She mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

"Athena," Apollo's voice grew slightly louder as he walked out the door of the hospital. If the people milling around the visitor entrance thought they were a couple, Athena would be overcome by embarrassment on behalf of Apollo. The last thing strong, independent Apollo needed was a partner who couldn't even ask an elderly doctor a set of simple questions without getting spooked and running for her life in a hospital, a place created to preserve her life. "If you want to, you can tell me what scared you. You don't have to. But I don't mind and if I can help in any way, I want to know how." He said as he knelt to the ground before leaning against a wall, with Athena in the same position but now sat in his lap. She could feel his hand smoothing her thick ginger hair again.

"I saw a person being rushed to the operating theatre. It wasn't really anything, but it took me by surprise a lot. And..." Her voice trailed off as her eyes flooded with tears, overflowing down her cheeks. She feebly attempted to wipe them away with the back of her hand, but it was no use. She felt a tissue being pressed into her hand. She nodded her thanks before continuing. "...And I just needed to be with you all of a sudden. You always seem to know what to do and I never do. They'd better not ban me from the hospital, I might need this place sometime, as well as for investigation."

"Pathetic!" Widget squeaked noisily.

"Athena. We don't have to go back in there if you think you'll be scared by another incident. But even though hospitals can be sad or scary places, they also save lots of people's lives, make them better when they're ill and they even bring new lives into the world." His unusually kind words soothed her wracked nerves.

"That really makes me feel better, Apollo." She said, her ears trained on his heartbeat.

Suddenly she became aware of sets of eyes glaring and staring intently at her and she looked up to Apollo to see if he'd noticed the same. Apparently he'd perceived them long before, as he was glaring back uncomfortably at all those who stared at the two of them. She apologised profusely for sitting in his lap for so long before moving to sit by his side with her back against the wall like him and immediately regretted it. There was less feeling of safety and security when she wasn't lying in his arms.

She reached up to gently ruffle his carefully styled chestnut hair as thanks, taking extra care to ruffle it around the spot where he'd been hit by a piece of rubble before, in the knowledge that that area of his head had become particularly sensitive since his recovery, despite any protests he might give to his perfectly gelled hair becoming messed up, he really enjoyed feeling his hair being messed up around that area. She'd discovered it by accident one day, when she was trying to annoy him in the office one day when he had mountains of paperwork and she had none. He'd yelled at her a lot for taking liberties with his hairstyle, but the grateful and surprised emotions flowing in his voice gave him away. She could tell how good Apollo felt when she ran her slim fingers through his hair, so she started to use it to her advantage. Stroke the area hit by Ted Tonate and he'd blush a brilliant red, a shade that clashed violently with his suit and leave to do the errand she'd requested straight away. Once when he was discussing something with prosecutor Blackquill, Athena had snuck up behind him, winked at Simon, quickly brushed his hair upwards and crept off, hearing his voice suddenly reach a higher pitch than she'd ever heard it before and had the chance to see the puzzlement and amusement displayed on Simon's serious face. Gosh, she really loved knowing psychology.

"Best check in with Mr Wright." He muttered, blushing and brushing her hand away quickly before shuffling closer towards her. Athena grinned coyly before activating Widget. With a few taps of the hologram in front of her, she was video dialling Mr Wright's cell phone. It was answered immediately.

"Boss-"

"Athena! Is that you?" A young girl's voice came down the line, a few seconds before a video flashed up on the screen. "It's me, Trucy. I'm in trouble right now. I was practicing a new trick with my magic panties and I was looking for things to practice with and, well, I lost Apollo's keys to his apartment in another dimension! You can't tell Polly! But please help!" Trucy sounded breathless and panicked and Apollo and Athena could see her shaking her magic panties desperately, apparently trying to get Apollo's keys to fall from whatever dimension they'd disappeared to.

"Take a deep breath, Trucy." Athena instructed calmly. "I'm with Apollo right now. Look at the screen, we're both here. Apollo. Are you mad at Trucy?"

"...No..." He said as clearly as possible, to try to comfort the 16 year old. "No, I'm not. I can always get new keys made. We'll come over to help you search now. We're pretty much finished for the day anyway."

"You can?" Trucy's eyes lit up as she registered what he'd said. "I'd better go then. See you guys in a few minutes?"

"Yup!" Athena quickly raised two fingers to her head in a salute. "Cykes and Justice out!" She grinned.

I'm planning to continue this and make it more plotty soon, but for now, Becca out!


	2. Awaken

Here's chapter 2! I probably should've got a plan for Echoes of The Heart when I started writing, but hopefully the next chapter will have a little more going on! Oh and thanks for taking the time to read this fic!

"Apollo! Wakey wakey! It's morning and we've got a client to defend!" A clear female voice infiltrated Apollo's weirdly vivid dream about being attacked by a living piano.

"Nghhhh... No..." Apollo tried to hide his eyes under the blanket, in the hope of blocking out the light. _Get this morning loving ball of fun away from me. _

"I made you breakfast!" The female voice continued excitedly. "Mr Wright had to go, so he had his early, but Trucy and I are waiting to eat with you." Her enthusiasm was met with silence. "Not interested? We have sunny side up fried eggs and pints and pints of cold, cold orange juice. Wouldn't want to miss out, would we?" Her voice took on a teasing tone and Apollo felt something warm press gently against his forehead. He could feel her breath, inches from his head as she murmured "Get up, sleepy head. We have work to do and food to eat." He took a peek from under his covers, just in time to see the voice's pretty lips curve into a crescent. She was so close, so startlingly close and what was that a few seconds ago? _Did she kiss me?_ Apollo's face spread into a grimace, trying to appear cool and hide how his face flushed a brilliant red under his covers.

"Vite! Vite!" Widget added loudly, right next to his left ear. Apollo was too tired to jump in surprise. He hadn't slept well last night, despite having had an exhausting day investigating in the hospital beforehand.

He heard her stand up, turn on her heel and start to walk away._ Thank goodness._ Before he could think anything else, or evaluate whether she'd kissed him, he'd fallen asleep again. The dream he'd had earlier continued, but this time an oboe and guitar attacked the piano whilst he looked on. Before he could step in, something cut through his dream: a voice.

"Bonjour Monsieur! Are you getting up yet?" The perky voice had returned to his side once again, obviously no less determined than the last time.

"What the heck, Athena. Go away." He grunted, more awake this time but still refusing to open his eyes.

"Let's do it, Athena." A second female voice said.

Apollo's eyes shot open as a cold, numbing sensation spread through his head. Everything was dark, but he could hear the two girls cackling conspiratorially as he shoved the blankets off his face and sat upright. As he stared in anger, mouth gaping like a fish, something slid from his forehead onto the office sofa he'd had to spend the night sleeping on, thanks to Trucy practicing magic tricks with his keys and losing them.

"Ice?" He groaned, examining the clear cube closely. "You guys really-" his voice trailed off as each girl grabbed one muscled arm and dragged him toward their makeshift breakfast table, a bundle of blankets dragging around his foot. The coffee table had a checked dishcloth covering a small part of it in place of a tablecloth and was completed by a floating spaghetti centrepiece. He was roughly made to sit at the head of the table, hair scruffy and unstyled, eyes dangerously close to closing again. He slowly took in the girls' attire. Athena had her hair gathered in a low ponytail down her back, wearing a familiar-looking oversized red T-shirt and shorts whilst Trucy wore her school uniform with a white apron over the top.

"Good morning sir. What would you like to order from the menu?" Trucy said, handing him a page ripped from a notebook saying _"Fried eggs and orange juice" _in expressive handwriting. Apollo scanned the paper carefully, before turning it over to view the other side. A picture of a waxing moon had been scribbled on the other side.

"I'd like to order fried eggs please. And, uh, orange juice would be refreshing."

"Got it!" The brunette waitress beamed. "Chef Cykes! Two orders of fried eggs please! And two glasses of orange juice too!" She called to the other side of the room, where Athena was leaning determinedly over a portable camping stove which Mr Wright kept in case of emergencies.

"Certainly, Miss Trucy! Take a seat!"

"Is it even safe to run a stove in the office? And Athena, is that my T-shirt you're wearing?" Apollo groaned. Mr Wright had lent him clothes, amongst other essentials, but they were all too big and, well, blue for Apollo.

"Yup!" Athena grinned. "Your landlady came to give us the key this morning so we got some stuff for you, like a suit and toiletries so you don't turn into boss. This T-shirt got fond of me when we were going through your wardrobe, so it decided to come live with me for a while!" The red clashed with her hair, but somehow the T-shirt suited her better than Apollo. He noted not to ask for it back any time soon.

"Give it back soon then. And you'd better get into smart clothes soon, or we'll be late."

"You can talk." Athena winked. Apollo glanced down at his clothes. She had a point. He hadn't had chance to get changed, due to his rude awakening so he was sitting at the breakfast table in only boxers and a T-shirt.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you all: Cykes-style eggs!" Athena stood up and twirled dramatically, frying pan in hand, before jumping away from the camping stove in fear of burning her leg, yelping as an egg slipped out of the frying pan and onto the floor.

"Excellent twirl, Athena. But if you want to go pro, you should work on more graceful leaps." Trucy giggled, waving a fork in the air to illustrate her critique of the impromptu performance. The two of them burst into laughter.

"I just got the last stain out of that carpet, Athena. I'll just have to do a Justice-style clean up later as usual," Apollo frowned, trying to conceal his own laughter. Athena would hear his mirth anyway, but retaining composure made him feel better. "And one of us will get less of your famous Cykes-eggs now."

"It's okay, I made four batches just in case." Athena said, pouring brightly coloured juice from a jug filled with as much ice as juice.

"I... don't want any ice in my OJ, thanks." Apollo motioned towards the three glasses near the stove. He still hadn't heated up from the wake up prank, shivering slightly.

Breakfast was eaten quickly, with conversation zipping backwards and forwards between mouthfuls of egg. Apollo didn't try to keep up, but instead contemplated the egg. The egg whites and yolk had been separated: the whites were peppered lightly and the yolk had been placed back on top of the whites, having been cooked separately. They were really delicious. He started listening to Athena, hoping to catch how she made them so he could write the recipe and cook them on his own.

"-my mom used to make eggs this way! I don't know where she learned it, but they're perfect for when I'm down or have friends to cook for!" Athena was leaning forward, enlightening Trucy on the history of the delicious breakfast. "Mom used to make these for Simon and me when we lived at the space station. Simon loved them! I'd always try to feed them to Ponco too..." Her voice trailed off and Apollo noted her left hand twitching as it held the metal fork in the air above her plate. He glanced over at Trucy; she had seen it too, and was fidgeting, unsure of how to comfort Athena. It wasn't her fault that robots and humans were the same thing to her when she was younger, but it had caused her so much trouble.

"Athena..." Trucy muttered.

"Don't worry Truce. It's in the past now." Athena said, putting her fork on the side of her plate. Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. "I'm going to get changed into a suit." She muttered, before standing up.

"WHERE'S MY HAIR GEL?" Apollo yelled from the office bathroom, echoes reverberating back to him from the walls of the small room.

"Athena said you didn't need your hair gel," Trucy's voice sounded outside the bathroom door. "You can use water, right Polly?" She added brightly.

"Of course I can't." Apollo said flatly. "She knows perfectly well I need my hair gel." He sighed, squeezing toothpaste onto his toothbrush. _Trust Athena to have a few pranks up her sleeve_. "I'm going to the store in a minute to get some more."

"You can't do that, Polly. I'll be late to school and you'll be late to court. What if your client thinks you aren't coming?"

"Ungh... What if..." Apollo muttered, staring at his reflection in the small mirror as he began to brush his teeth. Thanks to his hair gel being gone, the judge might not recognise him, or prosecutor Gavin might make fun of him for his loose hair while Athena stood beside him, hair perfectly styled, looking the picture of fair-skinned beauty.

Apollo pedalled as hard as he could up the steep hill but he couldn't overtake the yellow-clad figure running on the sidewalk that had challenged him to a race. Although he knew she loved to run all the time, her ability to keep a good distance between them was a big surprise to him, especially since he was on his bike.

"You're losing, Polly." Trucy helpfully pointed out, sitting on the back of his bike in her sailor uniform.

"The extra weight isn't exactly helping us win up this hill." He said, turning to frown at her. "I could win if I weren't pedalling for two people, you know."

"Polly, you just rode past my school!" The passenger giggled as Apollo jerked the handlebars to turn about quickly and make his way up to Athena, who now stood stationary outside the high school.

Apollo's head drooped from the embarrassing defeat as he watched Trucy meet with a group of girls her age and head into the school building, which was surrounded by trees decorated in golden brown leaves. Athena sidled up to him with a grin on her face as he dismounted his bicycle. But the smile on Athena's face soon faded as she was approached by a teacher that Apollo recognised as having taught him math in fourth grade. The female teacher asked her to wear the correct uniform to school in future, or face the consequences. Her shoulders slumped as she nodded. Apollo started to walk down the street, wheeling his bike away in the hopes of not having a reunion with the teacher, whose class he'd flunked. The sound of leaves being kicked alerted him that Athena was close behind. He turned to the sound to see the white boots and the trail dull, grey sidewalk they'd revealed in catching him up.

"Do I really look like a school kid, Apollo?" She sniffed, pulling her yellow blazer a little further around her shoulders. It hadn't been the first time Apollo had seen her being mistaken for a school girl. His guess was that it happened pretty often.

"You're too old to be in school now, right? So it's okay and you... You don't come across as young to me, I guess. More mature." Apollo said. Comforting Athena was definitely not his forte. He knew next to nothing about girls, even Trucy, whom he spent a lot of time helping and being helped out by, confused him regularly. _And how is she going to take that? As a compliment? _Apollo's mind began to wander as his eyes scanned her downcast figure. _And how do I want her to take it? That I see her as an equal? As a friend? As something more?_

"Thanks, Apollo!" She said. Although her voice wavered a little, her posture became more and more relaxed. "Your hair looks good, by the way!"

"I'm glad you like my hair but please remember hair gel next time. I need to look my best to win court cases."

"That's wrong, silly! The secret to your winning court cases is me!" She grinned, reaching up. "Anyway, it's easier to ruffle your hair this way, see?" Apollo could feel her gently messing up his chestnut hair in its most sensitive area. It felt good, the sensation of his hair being played with comforted him and he felt a smile spreading across his lips. He could feel other things spreading too; a bright red blush showing across his face and, to his surprise, a warm happy feeling spreading out from his heart and through his chest.

As breeze began to blow, a browned leaf floated down from a nearby tree and softly landed in Athena's fringe. She hadn't seen it and was still messing up the back of his hair enthusiastically. Apollo's feet slowed to a stop, and a second later, Athena's followed suit.

"Athena... You..." He muttered, reaching over to dislodge the leaf from her smooth, well styled hair, a contrast to his slightly messy locks. He was still red in the face as he saw a pretty blush light up her freckled cheeks as she jumped in surprise, removing her hand quickly and breaking eye contact. He'd lifted the leaf from her hair and was patting her fringe back into place.

"You had a leaf in your hair." Apollo smiled gently, holding the leaf out to show her. She was gazing at the leaf like she'd never seen one before.

"Oh..." The girl made eye contact again and reached out towards the leaf in his hand. "Thank you, Apollo." She was blushing harder than before as her fingertips brushed over the edge of the leaf.

Apollo expected her to take the leaf from his hand, but instead, he felt her fingers slip through his own and intertwine with them, trapping the leaf between their palms as her ungloved hand guided his larger hand to his bicycle's handlebar and continued to hold it on top of the bar. A look of surprise shot across his face. He had no idea how to react to her taking his hand but he knew he liked it.

"Is this a problem, Apollo?" She said. Her face was hidden from his sight behind her hair but he knew she had her ears trained on the sound of his heart and would hear any conflicting emotions in his reply.

He decided to give the most honest answer he could.

"Not- not at all" He stuttered before squeezing her cool hand.

"Good. Let's go then!" Athena turned to face him and grinned. She put her right foot forward and began to walk the block to the district court with Apollo wheeling his bike behind, over balancing his bike a few times before he got the hang of holding both Athena's hand and the handle below it.

He wasn't used to having a hand to hold, but he got the hang of it very quickly.

This chapter was a lot of fun to write, so I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did writing it!


	3. Stepping out

Hi, readers! I'm sorry this chapter took so long to upload, I was just struggling with working out where the story's going. I know now though, haha ^^ Thanks to everyone who's left reviews.

"Hello? Boss?" The yellow clad figure facing Apollo spoke enthusiastically and rapidly to the hologram projected by widget, "We won our case! Not bad, hey? You should've seen the look on Simon's face as we presented that scarf you helped us find in the trash can." She giggled.

The figure on the other end of the video call smiled in return.

"You two can have the rest of the day off, I'll organise your paperwork and start it off so you can work on it tomorrow instead."

"Seriously? Thanks so much, Boss! Hey, Apollo! Say thanks!"

Athena reached over the image and took Apollo's shoulder, dragging him through the hologram so that he was stood next to her. He checked to see his image, next to Athena's in the corner before he grinned at the full screen image of Mr Wright.

"Thanks, Mr Wright, I appreciate it. I guess we'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Sure, Apollo. Tell me everything about the case then too. Bye!" The image of the older lawyer disappeared and all that was visible was the image of the two of them side by side, filling the screen.

"What are you doing now, 'Pollo?" Athena asked, looking at his picture on screen.

"Well, I was hoping to spend some time cleaning my apartment since it feels like I spend so much time cleaning the office, but no time cleaning my ow-"

"My psychological analysis tells me you are obsessed with cleaning, Apollo. I think it's been caught from a man by name of 'Wright'." Athena cut in, gesturing as she tapped Widget to close the hologram and its video call software. "May I suggest we go out for lunch somewhere? You deserve it as the assistant attorney on this case!"

_Geez, she sure is cocky when she takes the lead on a case,_ Apollo groaned.

"Well sure, why not? Where do you have in mind, Athena?"

"There's a cool fast food place a client was telling me about round here! They have really fancy sounding burgers, so how about there?" She said, eagerly.

She was looking straight into his eyes and he suddenly realised how close they were, her blue eyes clear and sparkling thanks to Apollo's perfect vision. They hadn't moved apart from when they were shoulder to shoulder with each other during the video call to Mr Wright.

"Sure, why not?"

"This is a great burger!" Athena laughed from the cushioned seat against the wall. Apollo occupied the chair on the other side of the table. "No wonder Maya likes this place so much!"

"Maya? You mean Mr Wright's old assistant?" Apollo paused until Athena nodded and grunted. "I didn't know the two of you had met. How come you seem so friendly with her?" His gaze shifted to Athena scarfing down the large burger, back to a fry from his meal which he twirled between his thumb and forefinger, then back to Athena who was now swallowing the last of the burger, before taking a minute to wipe the splashes of ketchup from her lips.

"Well, don't you remember when she called Mr Wright to defend her student?" She began at length, "She'd been accused of murdering another student. Well anyway, I helped out a bit with piecing together a testimony." She added, before she picked up her drink, poised to take another slurp of the strawberry milkshake then paused. "Boss worked with Maya for the most of it though. It seemed like she's his natural investigative partner." She sighed before continuing, "She said agency members can come to her village whenever they want as long as they bring an offering of burgers!"

"Ah, I don't know Maya too well. I first met her in the office when she dropped off some cakes for Mr Wright. I know one of her family members much better though. Anyway, she made a better first impression on me than you, that's for sure!"

"Well sorry, partner." Athena retorted with a roll of the eyes. "I suppose I should've brought cake to Nine Tales Vale as an offering to the great demon lawyer?"

"Well, a nice big cake wouldn't have gone amiss, Tiger. Maybe one with my face on it saying "You're ace! From your newest colleague.""

"Hold that thought, Justice." Athena commanded, standing up abruptly. Apollo followed her as she walked swiftly towards the counter and handed over some coins to the till operator. She hurried back to their table and placed a plastic package in front of him.

"It's a cake?" Apollo frowned, pointing to the blueberry muffin.

"Yeah, your cake. You said you'd rather have been presented with a cake than an airborne policeman so here it is. A year and a half late."

"A year and a half, huh? It sure went by quickly. Well, thanks Athena!" Apollo unwrapped the muffin in seconds before taking a large bite out it contentedly.

"Hey Apollo." Athena started to speak, pausing as if to allow Apollo to verbally acknowledge her statement but cutting the silence short before he could. "Have you done anything this past year and a half?"

"Of course! I've stood in court, cleaned the office toilet until the varnish wore away and become a pretty integral part of Trucy's Sunday night Stardust Spectacular. Not to mention all that private investigation I did over Clay's death."

His voice betrayed a mix of guilt, sadness and pride. Guilt, of putting his coworker through the trauma of reopening UR-1, and propelling the Agency into confusion over his leave of absence. Sadness. Naturally over Clay's death. The loss of an irreplaceable friend, who had stuck with him where family members had not. The pride was something Apollo tried not to let himself admit existed. But it was there, the knowledge that he could operate on his own after cutting ties to the Agency. He could be independent of the Wrights, of Athena and still get things done.

"Apollo. I'll ask you again. Have you done anything this past year and a half?" Apollo inhaled sharply, prepared to repeat his last statement with a less patient tone. "Outside of work, Apollo. And outside of Clay." Athena added apologetically as she met his eyes with a glance of sincere sympathy, "What have you done in the past 18 months that's never happened before_?_"

At first, Apollo thought that he would snap. Then he noticed the trembling right arm, crossing her chest and covering her heart. And he realised she wasn't asking what he had done, but whether _she_ had achieved anything of worth.

"Athena, you saved Prosecutor Blackquill, just in time. That's a lifetime'a worth of activity. And-"

"Apollo, I've worked. I've met old acquaintances and friends again. Made new friends and landed the job I've worked for for so long. But I haven't accomplished anything outside of work, have I?" Her whole body was trembling now. "I've done so much, but nothing for me. All for work."

"Hey, Athena." Apollo mumbled as he rose, the back legs of his chair scraping against the floor. Athena winced at the sound.

"It's ok, Athena." He murmured gently, sliding into the space on the seat next to her, "It's ok, Tiger. It's been a busy, stressful time for you. But you can start doing things for yourself now."

His left arm encircled her slumped shoulders and brought her close in a sideways hug. His arm guided her head to his chest and the other wrapped around her back. Perhaps he thought he could comfort her with the beating of his heart, but if the warming of his cheeks was anything to go by, the heartbeat she was hearing was picking up speed.

"Hey, we can do stuff together, make some memories to tell our kids." His right arm wrapped around her back in a full hug, and his hand began to stroke the back of her head on instinct. All memory of the fast food joint and the surrounding clamour of everyday life faded as he gazed down at the ginger locks. He bowed his head further to plant a gentle kiss in the red locks before resting his head on hers.

"Want to go do something then?" He whispered with a quietness that surprised even him. "Want to take some time out for a holiday?"

Athena's back straightened up and her head tilted back until she was upright. Without making eye contact, she reached to her right and picked up the cheap restaurant napkin, searching for a corner that she hadn't wiped her lips with earlier to dry her eyes with.

"Yeah," her shaky voice replied, smiling gently at Apollo before reaching across to give him another tight hug, "Let's go have some kind of adventure."

Sorry if it didn't feel like a lot happened this chapter, but I'm going to have some proper plot introduced soon, hopefully. See you guys soon, hopefully!


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